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Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging technique that uses radiolabeled compounds to study physiologic processes in vivo. In cerebral activation studies, 15O-water is used to study regional cerebral blood flow. Cerebral regional increases in positron emissions during a condition of interest compared to baseline reflect increases in regional blood flow, which is a marker of neuronal activation. PET is often used to measure changes in regions of activity within the brain during an experimental task, thus implicating functional involvement of these areas in task performance. PET is also heavily used in clinical oncology (for medical imaging of tumors and to search for metastases).
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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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(2013). Positron Emission Tomography. In: Gebhart, G.F., Schmidt, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_201723
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_201723
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28752-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28753-4
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